Tooling Maintenance: Best Practices for Longevity and Performance
Maintaining Your Tooling Offers Major Benefits for Your Business
The proper tooling is required to complete any manufacturing or fabrication job. Making sure that tooling is in the best shape possible will ensure that your products are of the highest quality and that your manufacturing process is cost-effective.
Maintaining your tooling properly ensures a longer life. If your tooling is not properly cared for, inspected, or maintained, things slip through the cracks. Rust and broken or dull parts can result in your tooling failing prematurely, causing your company to spend funds on new equipment.
Not only does maintenance ensure a longer life, but it also ensures a better, cleaner product. If you are working with dull or rusted parts, it will be harder to complete the job, and it will make the finished product look and feel less desirable. Keeping your tooling in good condition will ensure the highest quality product possible.
When performing maintenance, there are a few best practices that should always be in place. Ignoring minor issues to focus on bigger problems will cause much more costly damage in the future. Major and minor issues should both be evaluated and repaired, always. A proactive maintenance plan also includes hiring well-trained maintenance technicians, maintaining an equipment inventory and recording or documenting all maintenance and problems, and deciding on a frequency of inspection and maintenance.
Understanding Tooling Maintenance
Tooling maintenance is the practice of inspecting your tools and equipment for damage or issues that could result in damage, and then addressing and fixing those issues. The main goals of a maintenance schedule and program are to reduce downtime, ensure your tools are safe to use, and prolong the life of your tooling. As an important process for all industries and all tooling, this maintenance saves your company money, improves product quality, and keeps your employees safe.
A regular maintenance schedule should include some key elements such as cleaning, inspection, maintenance, reporting of any findings including a detailed report after each inspection, and an ongoing log of the tool’s life.
Best Practices for Tooling Maintenance
While the specifics of tooling maintenance are entirely dependent on the tool itself, there are a few general best practices that should always be in place during scheduled maintenance.
Regular Cleaning and Inspection
Proper cleaning of tooling and machinery gives the maintenance team a better idea of what is going on, improves the lifespan and function of the tool, and improves the work environment for employees. Dust, chips, and grease are just some of the substances that dirty tooling, and they need to be cleaned off to prevent degradation and damage to the tooling, as well as to keep your employees’ health safe.
Inspections are an integral part of maintenance because it gives the maintenance technician a better understanding of the wear and tear on the equipment and what needs to be addressed.
Lubrication and Preventative Maintenance
Friction causes breakdown, excessive wear, and damage to all of the moving parts of your tooling and equipment. However, if you have too much lubrication, your machine is prone to leaks which can lead to bearing damage, and if you are using the incorrect lubricant degradation and chemical corrosion can occur. Proper lubrication is the easiest way to avoid damage due to friction and maintenance technicians will check lubrication levels at every scheduled point in time. They will also make sure you are using the right kind of lubricant to prevent chemical corrosion. Recommendations for lubrication depend on the machine or tooling, but you can generally expect it to be checked weekly or monthly, though sometimes they only recommend a yearly lubrication inspection.
Preventative maintenance can save your company money down the line. Addressing issues before they become real problems will save you from unnecessary downtime and costs. Inspection, cleaning, lubrication, and repairs or replacements of damaged parts all contribute to what occurs during scheduled preventative maintenance.
Calibration and Adjustment
Calibration of your tooling consists of comparing it to another instrument or a measuring device that is set to an accurate standard, generally a national standard, to detect any differences. This process is important to make sure your tooling and equipment are performing at the standards set, which are intended to keep your workers safe and the machine running smoothly.
If it is determined that your tooling is not calibrated to the national standard, the maintenance technician will adjust the machine to meet the standard. Adjustment of your tooling to meet calibration standards is important to the life of the tooling, as well as saving you time and money.
Regular Maintenance Schedule
Maintaining a regular maintenance schedule will help keep your tools and equipment working properly, last longer, and keep employees safe.
A regular maintenance schedule includes cleaning, inspection, and detailed reporting and documentation. These standard maintenance activities ensure your equipment runs smoothly, is able to perform all necessary actions, is clean to prevent wear and keeps employees safe, and saves you from future downtime from damage.
Troubleshooting and Problem-Solving
Troubleshooting and problem-solving regarding tooling and manufacturing equipment can be overwhelming. There are a few things that you can do and a few steps you can follow to troubleshoot any issues.
Identifying the problem should always be your first step. Once you know what is wrong with your equipment and how it affects your business, you can further break it down and make sure you know all of the ins and outs of the issue.
Finding where the problem started or how it happened is important to go about fixing it. Deeper issues, continual wear and tear, or misuse are often causes of many issues. Gathering information to identify what caused the problem can help you evaluate if something more serious is going on.
To fix the problem, you need to create steps that you can take to solve it. These planned steps should be specific and contain details to help you and your employees effectively solve the issue. When you execute these steps, it is important to communicate with your team so you can all work together to solve the problem.
Once the process of fixing the issue is in place, it is important to keep track of everything that is being done and what is working or not working. This can help you readjust your plans, either continuing to go about it the way you are or changing it up to see if something is more effective.
Training and Education
The tooling, machinery, and other equipment that you and your employees use are complicated and dangerous. Making sure your employees know how to use each tool properly is important to their safety, as well as keeping your tooling and equipment in good condition.
Training and education for your employees on the tools they will be using are important to prevent damage. If your employees know how to properly use, handle, and care for the equipment they are using, damage will happen much less. Combined with preventative maintenance and inspections, this is a great way to prevent unnecessary repair costs.
Work with Pivot Precision for Your Tooling Maintenance Needs
Pivot Precision knows how hard you have worked on the design and creation of your tooling and we know how important it is to test and inspect each tool before and during use. With over 60 years of experience, we are experts at first article inspection to ensure your tooling is creating accurate parts. We also offer steel analysis services to provide you with detailed information about the condition and remaining life of your tooling. As an ISO-certified supplier of highly specified precision components, we are able to quickly catch any small issues before they become larger, expensive problems.
Contact us for more information on our testing, inspection, and maintenance services, or request a quote for your needs.